FERDINAND VI., king of Spain , second son of Philip V., founder of the Bourbon dynasty, by his first mar riage with Maria Luisa of Savoy, was born at Madrid on Sept. 23, 1713, and succeeded his father in 1746. His father's second wife, Elizabeth Farnese, looked upon her stepson as an obstacle to the fortunes of her own children. The hypochondria of his father left Elizabeth mistress of the palace. Ferdinand was mar ried in 1729 to Maria Magdalena Barbara, daughter of John V. of Portugal. For the events of his reign see SPAIN : History, and ENSENADA, Cenon de Somodevilla. The death of his wife Bar bara broke his heart. Between the date of her death in 1758 and his own on Aug. Io, 17S9, he fell into a state of melancholy bordering on madness.
See William Coxe, Memoirs of the Kings of Spain of the House of Bourbon, vol. iv. (1815) ; Count of Ferran Nunez, Vida de Carlos III. ed. Morel Fatio and Don A. Paz y Melia (1898) .